Boots-Faubert: Cool gadgets at show

The Consumer Electronics Show has been the place to go every January since 1967 to learn what's ahead in technology - and Times columnist CM Boots-Faubert was there.

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By C.M. BOOTS-FAUBERT

capecodtimes.com

By C.M. BOOTS-FAUBERT

Posted Jan. 21, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Updated Jan 21, 2014 at 8:46 AM

By C.M. BOOTS-FAUBERT

Posted Jan. 21, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Updated Jan 21, 2014 at 8:46 AM

» Social News

The Consumer Electronics Show has been the place to go every January since 1967 to learn what's ahead in technology.

The floor is neatly sorted into traditional tech sections, and while wandering around is something of a predictable adventure, it seems that new sections are being added each year.

This year, the dominant technology includes a hydrogen-fueled car, wearable personal tech, a new video game platform called Steam Machines that appears poised to give Microsoft and Sony a run for its money, and a new curvy and oh-so-smart television for your living room that just may change the way you use your TV.

Television is a major staple at CES, where innovation is supposed be the norm.

Considering that TV hasn't really had a lot of luck when it comes to finding exciting and flashy new uses or features in nearly a decade, the TV-focused announcements at this year's CES will likely mean that Vegas bookmakers will be giving TV better odds.

Thanks to the adoption of Ultra-HD TV by more makers across a larger number of models, the next generation in home entertainment tech boasting four times the resolution of HDTV — giving it the nickname of 4K — is going to get a lot cheaper. That's what HS Kim, executive VP of Samsung's visual display business says.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times at CES, Kim announced that he expects the bendable, curving 4K lines to grow much more affordable, and that consumers will choose UHD TVs at a rate much faster than presently anticipated.

The next buzzworthy TV reveal on the show floor is Toshiba's announcement that it will soon be shipping three new smart HD TVs that come with the GameNow video game streaming app installed, in addition to other popular apps like YouTube, Netflix and Pandora.

GameNow currently offers players a selection of titles, including "Dead Rising 2," "Devil May Cry 4," "Resident Evil 5," and the first two "Batman: Arkham" games, Asylum and City. The service plans to offer expanded content from both Capcom and Warner Bros. extended game catalogs in the near future.

Nintendo's Wii platforms have their own niche in the gamer world. But the battle lines for winning the hearts and fingers of living room gamers has been split between Sony and Microsoft for so long that it's difficult to remember what it was like when the pair had to compete with a third party. That is about to change.

A new game platform is about to land in living rooms called Steam Machines — basically, gaming PCs built by a number of manufactures for prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, hooking directly to your TV so you can play PC games in your living room.

These new Steam Machines are powered by digital game distributor Valve's SteamOS.

Valve operates the very popular PC-based digital game distribution system called Steam (hence the name), which in recent years has become the preferred method for buying and playing PC games.

What Valve offers is a community environment similar to Microsoft's LIVE and Sony's PSN, but for PC gamers. With the launch of the Steam Machines later this year, that two-way split of the living room TV for gaming just got wider.

It is not clear at this point if the new gaming tech will end up being adopted as an addition to living room gamers' setups or replace one or both of the traditional game consoles. But, either way, a battle is shaping up in the living room, and it's anyone's guess who'll win.

The wearable-tech scene has pretty much been captured by fitness-exercise monitoring and smart watches in the past. But if you thought that the tech had hit its limitations, I have news for you: It doesn't stop at the wrist.

All new parents have likely found themselves wondering if the baby stopped breathing. That sort of worry is a rite of passage for new parents — or perhaps it used to be, because a sensor-equipped, Wi-Fi connected onesie can eliminate the worry.

The onesies have washable devices in them that will text the respiration, heart rate, and temperature data of your little one to your PC, tablet or smartphone as often as you want.

Intel's Jarvis, meanwhile, is an always-on voice-activated personal assistant that fits in your ear and allows you to control your connected device by voice, from remotely running apps to accessing Siri to taking and making calls, which means soon you can be talking to your phone while it is still in your pocket.

And then there are glasses. Google now has some major competition from enough different models and makers that keeping track of all of the smart glasses is a challenge, but it seems that's a good thing. The stiff competition has already resulted in lower prices for the tech as these innovators fight for market share.

CES has long been the place where the auto industry goes to show off its innovations, like the new auto tech it expects to be on the tip of your tongue by the end of the year.

Remember the word "ergonomic?" How about voice-controlled calls and GPS? Those trends each began at CES, and this year there is a robust and fresh crop of new car tech for us to marvel over.

Both Audi and BMW demonstrated their driverless-car technology this year, and while it is not quite ready for next year's models, the tech has made serious strides in the right direction. On board scanning optics and a navigation computer have replaced the whole smart-roads concept, and with that level of awareness along with more accurate GPS, the higher level of performance clearly suggests that we are within a decade of being able to get in our car and just tell it where we want to go.

GM demonstrated its 4G/LTE Connected Car concept, which is set to go in 10 models next year, and Mazda showed off its own app-integration demo called OpenCar, with its focus on driver awareness making in-car entertainment a lot safer, while Mercedes-Benz showed off its new smart watch-based car keys, but the real news appears to be in alternate power.

Ford's presentation of its prototype C-Max Solar Energi solar-hybrid car was a sincere effort to reveal all of the good packed into its small frame, which now has a range of just 21 miles on battery alone, but Ford's success at bringing the passive, solar-based full-charge time down to just seven hours is good news.

The presentation highlights the strides that Ford has made for what is calls its support environment — including a companion carport with a roof equipped with a built-in Fresnel lens that under ideal circumstances makes full use of the typically low levels of available light in city environments for the charging process.

The C-Max is presently being fully road-tested and it's increasingly likely that we'll be seeing the model soon.

If your gut reaction to this "new" alternate fuel tech is to not hold your breath, I don't blame you.

After all, they've done and said all this before, right? Except this time around it seems like they have gotten pretty serious about this car that runs on water.

That feeling stems not just from the presence of the concept cars — they trot those out for almost every auto and consumer show — but includes the presence of the wide variety of supporting tech displays that accompanies it.

The supporting displays for the FCV include a tear-away detail for the drivetrain, a detailed view of the hydrogen storage system, and a review of the California State refueling plans and sources.

A display of the common parts between the FCV and the Prius lines includes data about the new concept showing that the average cost to fill the tanks will be around $30, and a top speed of around 100 mph.

The last time that we saw this level of support for a concept car unveiled at CES it was for Toyota's Prius, and we all know how that story turned out. It may very well be time to start getting excited.

C.M. Boots-Faubert is a freelance writer who lives in Falmouth. Write to him at chris@boots-faubert.com.